"Career changers" are the target of a new recrutiment campaign

Laborious marking duties and pay rates that have traditionally lagged behind the private sector are a teacher's lot.

In return they have an opportunity to mould young minds and enjoy bumper school holidays.

Now, the Teacher Training Agency (TTA) is increasingly targeting disillusioned private sector workers who have had their company pension schemes closed.

Many of those being wooed by teaching work in financial services and the City - areas where job security is perceived to be poor and pensions have been hit by cutbacks.

We have been described as the second career of choice in the UK economy Ralph Tabberer, TTA

The teacher pension scheme is one of the most reliable in the UK as it guarantees a retirement income based on length of service and final salary.

In the private sector, final salary pension schemes are disappearing rapidly and many workers now face an uncertain retirement.

"The teacher pension scheme is becoming more of a selling point - we are being increasingly asked about it by applicants," Ralph Tabberer ,TTA chief executive, told BBC News Online.

The numbers of people moving into teaching, having already pursued a career in the private sector, are on the up - a third of new teachers are more than 30 years old.

Second choice

Mr Tabberer said the TTA, set up by the government to increase recruits to teaching, was actively pursuing the "career changer".

"We have been described as the second career of choice in the UK economy. Many are moving from the City into teaching attracted by the concept of helping shape young minds and greater security."

Classroom teachers can earn up to �40,000 a year according to Mr Tabberer.

The TTA reports a 64% increase in the number of inquiries as a result of a high profile recruitment campaign entitled "use your head - teach".